Past Tense Book Two: Past Tense, #2

By Odette C. Bell

Right. Great. She's saved Carmichael. For now. It turns out literal hell is after him.

Sally's only one small past witch. What can she possibly do to save him? It all depends on how motivated she is.

When Archibald continues his never-ending quest to capture Sally and Carmichael falls head-first into this twisted magical world, she's forced to find power she never thought she had.

Now she just needs to roll her sleeves up and use it. If Julius and the 10,000 will let her. For she will rapidly discover she might not be here to protect them. The greatest army of historical figures the world has ever seen came together for one point – to save Sally instead.

Trust her, she'll need it.

….

Past Tense follows a rare witch and a clueless detective fighting for each other through time. If you love your urban fantasies with action, heart, and a splash of romance, grab Past Tense Book Two today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: May 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201899516

Book preview

1

Julius stormed into the room. His face, at first at least, was compressed with real fear.

Then it slackened, contracted again, and replaced any actual concern with pale-lipped fury.

You, he said. He marched over to me, likely to grab my arm and yank me up, but I did it for him.

I shoved Carmichael off. Was it kind? Not particularly. But I’d gone through hell for him. And now we were back, and he was still unconscious. Did I think he had permanent brain damage? No. I was certain he didn’t, because he took that opportunity to grunt, roll to the side, and snuffle.

Was it cute? Maybe. But did I have time to note that? Oh no.

I had a lot to process. But importantly I had one very angry Roman dictator to deal with. I spread my hands. But I didn’t leave them spread for long. My lips twitched, and I soon dragged them down. I stood there, shoulders sagged, but not because I was defeated. Because… I’d changed, and it was time to recognize that.

I didn’t need to act defensively, and neither did I need to drop my gaze.

I did however sigh.

I looked at my feet, then up at Julius. I locked my hands behind me. If I were acting trite, I’d arrange them neatly before me. To put them behind, I had to be in control.

Julius, the king of control, narrowed his eyes.

Who is the man with the silver suit, anyway? Why haven’t you told me about him? And why can I vaguely remember him? And why, I did lose control of my tone now, but only slightly, does he appear ready to part heaven and hell to get to me?

Julius closed his eyes.

It took a long time until he opened them.

I had never once seen him diminished.

He’d always looked like the powerful, in-control dictator he really was. Now he drooped slightly.

He tilted his head up as if he could see something I couldn’t. Or, more likely, as if he were desperately looking for a distraction scurrying across the ceiling, but there was nothing there.

I suppose the time has come. First, however, we should deal with the detective before he rouses.

He can stay right there. You need to tell me why the cult was after him.

I was pushing my luck. Julius Caesar had turned, but now he turned back. In an instant, without having to actually call on power, he was covered by it.

He lifted his fingers menacingly. Yeah, yeah, so I’d turned a corner. I’d found my own self-worth and strength and all of that, but he was still far more powerful than I’d ever be.

My lips twitched, and I conceded his point.

Julius called Hippocrates, and soon he rushed up the stairs, grabbed Carmichael, regardless of his size, threw him over his shoulder, and looked at me once. He tutted. You know, I don’t have infinite time to spend on you. Please don’t injure your organism any further.

I nodded. Don’t worry. I won’t. But this organism has quite a number of questions. It’s time to get them answered.

Julius wordlessly walked out.

I followed. It felt… it felt weirdly different walking down the corridor.

There were plenty of other historical figures there. They’d come out of their rooms to see me.

Some of them cheered. Some of them slapped me on the back, but all of them still seemed quite scared. I’d seen that look before.

It was the look of people who knew there would soon be a new normal. They couldn’t go back to what they’d been.

And this was transference. What I was trying to describe was the pitching emotion within me. Whoever and whatever Sally had once been, she couldn’t be the same person going forward.

There were plenty of important rooms in this house. But none were more important than Julius Caesar’s war room.

It was where he placed all of the cursed objects – the power of which he fed to the book. It also looked the most Roman of every room. There was a pristine water feature in the middle, carved pillars, and mosaics all over the floor.

They quite rightly showed every single one of his victories. Then there was one right at the back depicting Julius going through some kind of portal. That one certainly hadn’t been written down in history, but according to the lore of my family, it was how Julius had turned into a practitioner.

I looked at it now, really staring at it, even though I had other things to capture my attention.

You have come quite far in such a short time. Unfortunate, that, he muttered.

He reached the massive oblong table in the middle of the room. It had been carved from a single tree, the greatest tree there’d ever been, apparently. It had grown on the steep sides of Mount Vesuvius.

Julius himself had gone back in time and cut it down 10,000 years ago.

The magic in the wood was palpable.

The older something is and the more history it has seen, the more it can attract.

Julius clicked his fingers, called on a stately throne-like high-backed chair, and sat.

He gestured to me to do the same.

Feeling like I had the power, I clicked my fingers too. I didn’t even manage to move the seat in front of me a single centimeter. Feeling foolish now, I grabbed the back, pulled it out, and sat. We were across the table from each other lengthwise, which meant he was a hell of a distance away. About 20 meters, to be exact.

I told you – this was a big table. Julius didn’t need to raise his voice to be heard, though. He tilted his head back. He steepled his fingers. The man has a name. Let’s call him Archibald.

I blinked quickly, recognizing I’d heard that before. Sarah said something similar. But wait – why do you want to call him Archibald? You call people by their actual names.

I was surprised I could say the name with an even voice.

But even soon ended. As I do not wish to use his name in front of you. I fear that if I do, you might have some kind of reaction. He twisted his fingers around dismissively. And that’s the last thing we can afford. You seem to have found some realm of strength to draw on, but it will fail. You will slip back. Of this I am sure.

Way to go to build a girl up.

I was too distracted though.

So I was right… hearing his actual name would have an effect on me. I had no idea what it could be, but just that knowledge made my stomach kick and tumble.

I had thought I’d done so darn well. But now it felt like I was slipping backward off a cliff again.

I knew the importance of not showing fear around Julius, so I tried to straighten. Why do I get the feeling that you and the other 10,000 have been protecting me from this… man, I chose not to bother with the name Archibald, for… I don’t know—

Your entire life? Julius uncharacteristically closed his eyes. He pressed his stiff fingers into his brow. Because I have. Because we have. Because your grandmother did – and that’s how she lost her life.

I’d gone into this conversation knowing it would be epic and I would learn a lot, but that was a gut punch I wasn’t ready for.

I’d taken a breath, but now it became trapped in my chest. I forced it out of my teeth, second by second. Then it came out in a rush. What… what do you mean? I should’ve already put two and two together. My grandmother had been investigating that hell symbol, and I already knew it was the cult who killed her. She… died for me?

Hot tears started to run down my cheeks. They at once felt like mine, yet they felt like someone else’s.

I didn’t want to connect to this moment, couldn’t draw too much out of it. Because if I did, maybe that grief I’d been holding back for the past several weeks ever since her death would finally hit me, and it would never let go.

I had to clench my hands into fists, scrunch my nails in, and hold on for dear life.

But Julius just watched me imperiously down his nose. If you have any chance whatsoever of getting through this, Sally Wise, he dipped his head forward, placed one hand flat on the table, and leaned in, suddenly making the 20 meters feel like centimeters, you will have to face the facts. Your grandmother is dead. She in large part died for you, and every single step you take from now on will not just be about you, but everybody else.

I….

I reeled. Wouldn’t you?

The tears couldn’t be stopped anymore. One led to two, led to 10, then to 1000.

I locked my hand over my face. I didn’t want to cry in front of Julius and knew the foolishness of trying. But there was no way to stop me. Soon my shoulders got in on the act, and they shook forward and back so wildly, I thought I’d pitch from the chair. All the while, he just steadily stared down his nose at me. If you can’t even cry, how can you possibly defeat him?

That made me stop. I dropped my hand, so weak, it banged against the table harshly, the knuckles smarting. Defeat him? I could barely push those words out. It was as if I didn’t even know what the concept entailed.

Julius, always one to hold your stare steadily, somehow managed to grasp mine and set it in concrete. Yes, Sally. Your destiny is to defeat him. Not to fall to him, he added again, words sharp.

I didn’t know what that warning meant. I couldn’t process it. Because suddenly my mind filled with thoughts of exactly what it would mean to face Archibald, let alone win against him in a fight.

Not just any fight. That word seemed so very tame. It was like describing the greatest battle in history as a mere skirmish.

I was still crying, but I let the tears come freely now.

Why did my grandmother keep me from this truth? Wait, it was you, too? Why didn’t you tell me about this? I would’ve come back sooner—

We let you go away to have a normal life while you still could. It was safer for you in the end, anyway. It kept you away from magic and from the cult. But you’re back now, because you must, because your grandmother unfortunately failed.

She didn’t fail, I came to her defense, even though he wasn’t really attacking her. She just… she died for me, I said. And that broke the dam. No going back now. The tears gushed. I sobbed, quaking forward and back in my seat, the chair legs groaning. She died for me. She actually… died for me, I spluttered over and over again, now so congested, I could barely breathe.

There are some people who act compassionately when you break down. Then there’s Julius frigging Caesar. He looked like a carved statue. He barely moved – didn’t even blink, just faced me as if human emotions were for the weak. It was only when I took a breath long enough to actually push out the words, I’m so sorry— that he finally rose.

I would tell you to just let it out. But I also know that you must compose yourself. Archibald now knows that you are here. He knows you are developing your powers, and he will seek you whenever he can.

I fidgeted back. Then I lurched away as those words struck me. Seek me?

He pointed one rigid finger up at the ceiling. As you have already guessed, he has the power of the wind. He can push himself through any breeze. I admittedly failed to protect this house, he clenched his teeth, but I will not do that again. I already have the 10,000 working on new magical spells to ensure this place is protected. I hate to suggest this, he said, teeth clenching further in a way that suggested he really did mean he hated it, but you will need to go out, and you will need to claim historical items for us. The book will require the power to protect this place.

Go out… and claim more items, I said that in a stuttering voice as if this was the first time I’d ever been introduced to what we 10,000 did.

My mind had to adjust.

It’d kind of stupidly thought that I would just stay here for the rest of my days, protected as best as I could be behind the white picket fence. But it turned out reality was still waiting outside the door.

Julius watched me carefully. I could tell he was trying to pry back the curtains of my mind, attempting to figure out exactly what I was thinking. And if it looked – even a fraction – like I intended to do something dangerous, he would likely take me down to the dungeon and chain me up for good.

His lips parted back into a grimace. It wasn’t directed at me, more the situation. But there was nothing his anger could do. So it just sat there, tightly coiled around him, his red magic becoming visible for just one split second more. The book will require true cursed objects now. We have located another one.

My mind reeled. But Archibald—

I will not give you all the pertinent information on him at once. It would be too dangerous.

I shook my head. Not telling me anything about him would be even more dangerous. I need to know how to protect myself—

You’ve learned how to sidestep through the hell portals. That will be sufficient for the time being.

But he has a house downtown— I blurted. Perhaps I should’ve kept that to myself. Julius was going back to being Julius. The dictatorial leader who would decide when I got information only if he wanted me to have it. But I needed to know everything. Right now. I felt like I’d wasted my past, like it had always been this void waiting to be filled up with these specific facts. But now Julius intended to drip-feed them to me.

But the words were out.

His eyes narrowed. We have already assessed the remnants of the transport spell that spat you out here. We are aware of the location you came from. You will not go there, he said, slowing down every single word until they could’ve carved themselves into the air.

My stomach pitched, and once more I receded back, pushing against the armrests hard enough that they creaked. "Why in the hell would I go back there? Of course I’m not gonna go